


Of Books and Cavemen

by OhhMyy



Series: Coming Back To Life. [6]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 15:21:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7981384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhhMyy/pseuds/OhhMyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Bucky sees her room it's inviting and homely; just like her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Books and Cavemen

**Author's Note:**

> Fluffy, fillery, character buildery chapter. No angst, brief mentions of Stark with no shirt.
> 
> If anyone wants the pictures referenced in this chapter please say and I'll figure out how to edit them in.

Charlie sits in the middle of her king-size bed, knees up to her chest, arms resting on knees and book in hand (Hells Angels by Hunter S. Thompson, she’d need more than two hands to count how many times she’d read it). Her baggy shirt (pilfered from Tony’s wardrobe is emblazoned with a roll of duct tape and a joke about men fixing things. “I am a genius, I fix things with tools” he’s scoffed when Pepper had brought it for him and he’d worn it only once in an attempt to sate her.) pulled over the tops of her bare knees, pyjama shorts covering her thighs.

Bucky wanders in the open door of her bedroom, his gentle knock having been missed in favour of the soft jazz that plays in the background. He pauses, thankful to his past for giving him the ability to go unnoticed and stay silent if nothing else, and admires her; she’s makeup free, relaxed, and absolutely entranced by the book in hand with a small smile on her face. He’d missed the first meeting between the two women but his assumption that Natasha called her lion because she was fierce and graceful, always in control, was displaced by the notion that it might be because when she’d not styled it her hair was completely wild; a huge mane that curled and twisted around her, down to the bottom of her back and he’d always known it was lovely but he didn’t think he’d ever seen her look more natural.

He coughs and she startles, lifting her head to look at him; giving him a huge smile when she clocks who it is. He smiles back; internally amazed that she always seems genuinely delighted to see him. It had taken time for him to warm to the group and them to him but she’d been warm and welcoming from the moment they met, never afraid to be alone or tactile with him.

“Hi Doll, I was looking for a book and Steve said you might be able to help me”

He’s never seen her bedroom before and takes a moment to look around, it’s inviting and cosy and so very her; tapestries hang from the ceiling making it look like a tent, shelves upon shelves of books line the walls (so maybe Steve wasn’t wrong) and it’s colourful, ornaments and trinkets and pillows from various cultures. It contrasts the black and white bedroom in which he resides and he can’t help but feel a little jealous at how much detail there is to her personality though he can’t deny that his arrival at the Tower hardly coincided with a close friendship and he was beyond grateful to Tony for the room even if it was a little bare.

There are black and white pictures in frames on the wall above her bed, some of the group and some of people he doesn’t recognise; he thinks they’re amazing but can’t help the stab at his chest upon realising his picture isn’t up there; comforted only minimally by the fact not all of the group are present. There is more than one picture of Tony, he is noticeably younger in some, and both posed for the camera and candid pictures she has taken at opportune moments and a few of them together; he is not overly happy at the amount of pictures showing Tony without a shirt. There’s a picture of Clint draped across a sofa with a smirk on his face, a shot of Wanda sipping a drink and a picture of Steve posing for her looking like a damn male model; next to it is a shot of Bruce who looks decidedly less like a male model and more like someone not very happy having a picture taken whilst trying to work.

She crawls to the edge of the bed, having placed her book gently on the covers and swings her legs over the side, shirt coming off her knees and Bucky catches onto just how little she’s wearing before she stands and the giant shirt comes down to her lower thigh; shorts peeking out beneath the hem.

“Sure” She smiles again, and bobs on her feet from heel to toe and back again “What is it you’re looking for?”

“I think it’s called Death on The Nile, I was reading it before the war and I…kind of didn’t get a chance to finish it” He rubs the back of his neck nervously as he looks at the floor. She lets out an excited squeal and he looks up in time to see her grin turn to an embarrassed look of repentance.

“Sorry, that’s not the correct response when someone talks about the war” She says it quietly, not really talking to him but more to herself in admonishment. He grins at her as she brushes the hair out of her face, flicking the huge mass of it to the other side of her head.

“It’s okay Doll, I take it you’ve heard of it?”

Her smile is back in place and she rushes around the bed, passing him, and pulls out a footstall to reach the top of one of the bookshelves, grabbing a book down without having to search too much and he’d be a liar if he said he wasn’t focused on the shirt riding higher up her leg as she reaches. She mutters “Christie, Christie, Christie” under the breath as she pulls herself the book down and steps off the stool before turning and waving it in front of her in celebration.

“Yes! And there are others, I have them all, you can borrow them, they’re good and… I am rambling, sorry” She babbles it out but her smile is still wide and she looks like she’s won some sort of prize at the fair; he can’t help but chuckle at her and strides forward to reach an arm out for the book. She pulls it back, a teasing grin on her face as she lovingly strokes the leather cover and peers out at him from under long lashes.

“You will be careful with it, won’t you Barnes?” She hands it to him, brushing the tips of her fingers over his as she gently places it in his hands, giving it one last stroke before bringing her hand back. He nods, the most serious expression he can muster on his face and uses his spare hand to give a little salute.

“Yes ma’am”

She’s giving him a look he can’t quite fathom, admiration and a little bit of joy and he quirks a brow at her without vocalising.

“That was published in the 30’s, written by a woman in England and you’re an American man from that time who was reading it. I don’t want to offend you Bucky, but not a lot of men from then would have given a female writer the time of day” She says it sheepishly, she genuinely doesn’t want to offend but she’s a little blown away and her crush on him has just doubled.

“I ‘aint a caveman, Doll” She beams so wide she feels like her face might crack and he can’t help return it. She’s not sure if she thought he would be, both him and Steve have dealt with modern society much better than she’d assumed they would and perhaps it says more about her prejudices than theirs than she had expected them to have problems with things neither of them appear to.

“What were you reading?” He asks, gesturing his head over to the book on her bed and her face blanches a tad.

“Ah…something a little more edgy than Agatha Christie”

“Consider me intrigued”

“I’m not sure Mister Forties is quite ready for it yet but you can borrow it when I’m done if you’d like?” He nods enthusiastically; wants to know what she likes even if he might not. He watches her bob on her feet again and holds the book up slightly as he makes his way out.

“Thanks for the book Doll” He says, turning slightly just in time to glimpse her hopping back onto the bed and resuming her reading position, she picks the book back up and holds it in her hand, thumb keeping a tab of her page and she smiles at him.

“Anytime”


End file.
